Middle East Madness > 3 steps toward sanity in ME - Kurdistan's PKK disbanding military wing; Hizbollah staff purged from Beirut airport; Israel to feed Gazans, starve Hamas

PKK says it is dissolving and ending 

its conflict with Turkey

By Darryl Coote

Supporters of The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) hold pictures of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, and shout slogans next to a bonfire during a rally for Newruz celebrations in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on March 21, 2025. On Monday, the PKK announced they were dissolving. Photo by Metin Yoksu/EPA-EFE

May 12 (UPI) -- The Kurdistan Workers' Party, a militant organization that seeks an independent Kurdistan, announced Monday that it was disbanding and ending its conflict with Turkey, a move that is expected to have wide-ranging consequences throughout the region.

The decision was announced by the Firat News Agency, which is closely aligned with the militant group known by the initials PKK, following the completion of its 12th Congress.

"The PKK's struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation imposed on our people and has brought the Kurdish issue to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics. In this respect, it concluded that the PKK has fulfilled its historical mission," the PKK said in a statement.

"On this basis, the 12th Congress decided to dissolve the organizational structure of the PKK and to end the method of armed struggle, under the leadership and implementation of Leader APO (Abdullah Ocalan), thereby bringing to a close all activities conducted under the name of the PKK."

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his foreign ministry have yet to respond to the development.

That should be interesting when it happens. I'm not sure this is what Erdogan really wants.

The PKK was a Marxist-Leninist organization that formed, under Ocalan, in 1978 and sought an independent Kurdistan. It has led an insurgency against Turkey from Syria, where it was based, since 1984. More than 40,000 people are believed to have been killed in the nearly 50-year conflict.

The militant group is considered a terrorist organization by numerous countries, including Turkey, Britain, Canada and the United States.

Its disbanding comes after its long-imprisoned leader, Ocalan, called for the group in late February to end its insurgency against Turkey.

Ocalan, 75, is serving a life sentence at a South Istanbul prison. He was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death but was later commuted to life when Turkey abolished the death penalty.

Kurdistan region

Lebanon purges dozens of Hizballah-linked staff from Beirut airport

May 12, 2025 9:00 am By Christine Douglass-Williams

In mid-April, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun stated that negotiations and not force would disarm Hizballah. Although how this could be done was a mystery, President Aoun stated that “civil peace is a red line.” It didn’t seem realistic that Lebanon could control Hizballah, even in light of the fact that Israel has drastically weakened the jihad group.

Aoun’s declaration appeared unrealistic because of the heavy influence of Hizballah in Lebanon, from its political and military might to social services network, as well as its ability to obstruct the workings of the Lebanese government. Nevertheless, back in January, Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam challenged Hizballah: “Aoun and Salam have both spoken about the state having a monopoly on weapons and deploying to southern Lebanon, a clear message to Hezbollah that its military supremacy may be over.”

Now, Aoun and Salam are finally making good on their threats, in this precedent-setting wave of actions against Hizballah. The Lebanese government is showing a new level of confidence, demonstrating that it can act and withstand whatever response Hizballah may make to its actions.

Lebanon purges Hezbollah staff from Beirut airport in fatal blow to terror group’s smuggling – WSJ

Jerusalem Post, May 10, 2025:

Dozens of staff members at Beirut airport with ties to Hezbollah have been fired as the new government works to crack down on the terror group at one of its main import hubs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing senior Lebanese security and military officials.

While laws have existed for some time, the officials noted that they had finally begun being enforced, resulting in the arrests of numerous smugglers.

Ground crew members told the WSJ that, unlike in the past, no planes or passengers have been exempt from searches, and flights from Iran have been suspended since February.

“You can feel the difference,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in an interview with the WSJ. “We’re doing better on smuggling for the first time in the contemporary history of Lebanon.”

Lebanon has previously denied reports that Hezbollah has an arsenal stored at the airport – claiming the media had been influenced by Israel.

Anonymous airport workers claimed to the Daily Telegraph that Hezbollah was holding a weapons cache at the airport. One worker said that in November, “unusual” boxes arrived from Iran and that a high-ranking Hezbollah official was overseeing the customs shipments……

Israel Has Made Detailed Plan to Feed Gazans and Starve Hamas

May 8, 2025 4:00 pm By Hugh Fitzgerald

What’s wrong with that? Because it is Israel, the country that can in the eyes of so many do nothing right, that made the plan, it must be rejected out of hand. Yet everyone knows — even Francesca Albanese can’t deny it — that for the past 19 months, Hamas has been seizing large amounts of the humanitarian aid sent into Gaza, and keeping it for its own members and their extended families. In addition, Hamas keeps another large tranche of that aid which it then sells to the plain people of Gaza — the very aid they were supposed to receive for free. Israel has come up with a well-thought-out, extremely detailed plan to deliver the aid, and bypass the thieves of Hamas. Yet the world, so ready to malign the Jewish state, rejects this plan. Apparently our Great and Good — the UN secretary-general, the editorial page writers of the New York Times, the entire staff of the BBC — would prefer that the aid be sent to Gaza, as in the past, unguarded and therefore straight into the grasping hands of Hamas. At all costs, we must prevent Israel from looking good.

Here, thanks to the diligent work of Elder of Ziyon, is what the Israeli government now plans to do in order to distribute the aid directly into the hands of the Gazans: 

Israel’s elaborate mechanism to bypass Hamas for aid to Gazans proves ‘starvation as weapon’ is a slander

Elder of Ziyon, May 6, 2025:

Israel is implementing a complex system to bring aid into Gaza. As JNS reports:

Three designated distribution centers will be established in Rafah, which will serve as the central hub for aid to the entire Gaza Strip. Each Gazan family will be represented by a single, registered individual authorized to collect a weekly food allotment, calibrated to meet survival needs—approximately 70 kilograms per household—without creating surpluses that could be exploited by terrorist groups.

Distribution will be managed via a formal registration process overseen by vetted NGOs and American private contractors. A senior Israeli security official emphasized that the new system aims to eliminate Hamas’s ability to intercept or steal bulk shipments.

“Hamas will find it much harder to seize aid from Gazan families,” the official said. “It’s one thing to hijack a supply truck. It’s another to rob food directly from the hands of hungry civilians.”

It strikes me that the logistics involved here are Herculean. Israel is setting up an entire distribution system, from trucks to recipients, from scratch, not relying on any existing systems – because Hamas is embedded in all the existing systems, including the NGOs.

The logistics are mind-boggling:

• Construction or repurposing of secure aid distribution centers (three hubs in Rafah).

• Probable establishment of temporary warehouses to store and protect incoming aid shipments.

• Installation of perimeter fencing, controlled entry/exit points, and crowd management systems.

• Creation of transport corridors from Kerem Shalom or other crossings to Rafah hubs.

• Comprehensive civilian registration system – likely including family rosters and IDs, identifying the allowed family member

• Biometric screening technology, including fingerprint or facial recognition, to prevent fraud or impersonation.

• Pre-verification protocols for NGOs and individuals interacting with the system.

• Weekly aid allotment calculation per household (~70kg) based on nutritional survival standards.

• Tracking software to prevent duplicate pickups and monitor usage patterns.

• Color-coded cards or tokens issued to approved family representatives.

• Deployment of IDF personnel for security and perimeter control.

• Hiring of American private contractors to manage logistics, data handling, and neutral oversight….

Look at the full list here. Think of how much detailed planning went into it. Yet there are still those who won’t accept it because, after all, it’s a plan by “the Zionist colonial-settlers” who’ve been guilty of “genocide,” and who wants to approve anything they propose?

If that Israel plan is not accepted, if aid is again delivered into the hands of Hamas before a pitiful remainder is left for the Gazans to share, then the world must be reminded of all that Israel was ready, willing, and able to do, to feed the people of Gaza while keeping Hamas from stealing so much of it, if only a malevolent world would let it.

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Syria - What's Next > Old AntiChristian rivalries flare up; How to Win Friends and Influence People; Turkey looking for excuse to invade Syria

 

Syrian Christians are not necessarily better off with the new government in Damascus

Syria: Muslims threaten to seize Christian lands,

tell some Christians to leave their homes or be killed

Jan 1, 2025 3:00 pm By Robert Spencer

This is how all the lands that are today considered part of the “Islamic world” became Muslim. It was not done by “wisdom and beautiful preaching” (Qur’an 29:46), but by force, threats and intimidation. See The History of Jihad for the full story.

After an ‘isolated’ incident… Christian existential anxiety in Maaloula, Syria

translated from “بعد حادثة «فرديّة»… قلق مسيحيّ وجوديّ في معلولا السوريّة” ACI MENA, December 29, 2024:

Since the change in the ruling class in Syria, the Christians of Maaloula have been experiencing existential anxiety that has worsened after an incident that occurred between two Christian and Muslim families. So what is the story? And what is the reality of Christians today in this ancient Christian town?

A church source who preferred to remain anonymous told “ACI MENA” that the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, after regaining control of Maaloula about 10 years ago, prevented some of the town’s Muslims from returning to it because of their cooperation with the Al-Nusra Front in the killing, kidnapping, and vandalism of Christians and their churches. However, after the fall of the regime, these people returned and entered the town, and some of them exerted pressure on the Christians under the pretext that the Christians had worked to displace them.

The source explained: “Some of the deportees caused problems, and Christians were considered part of the previous regime, knowing that their joy at its fall exceeded that of others; most of our youth emigrated due to compulsory conscription or reserve service requests.”

Regarding the attacks on Christians, the source said: “Threats began against five Christian families to seize their agricultural lands, and some Christians were asked to leave their homes and the town or they would be killed. The reason for these threats was either an old vendetta or some Christians were accused of carrying weapons and joining the ‘National Defense.’”

The source added: “The threats turned into action when Bashar Shahin’s house and his family’s house and the cafeteria he owned were seized, despite some Muslims defending them. After mediation, he was allowed to take his belongings from the house. Two houses were also broken into and robbed. There are also other types of harassment and provocations, such as shooting near a priest while he was distributing Christmas gifts to children in a kindergarten, in addition to Christians informing a priest that they had been spat upon.

The source confirmed that the one in charge in Maaloula is a person who belongs to the Turkish Suleiman Shah faction (the name of the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire). Therefore, there were appeals from the people of Maaloula and its church officials for the intervention of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

He explained: “The Christians of Maaloula do not feel reassured; with the absence of the state, upon whose presence we relied, security has disappeared, especially since weapons have been completely withdrawn from the Christians and left in the hands of others. We are advocates of peace and we want to build Maaloula hand in hand with all its residents.”

He continued: “The major incident occurred at dawn on December 26, when Abdul Salam Diab and his father stormed Ghassan Zakhem’s farm with the aim of stealing it, which resulted in the death of Abdul Salam. But unfortunately, it was portrayed as a religious issue and that Christians wanted to attack and kill Muslims, knowing that it was a purely individual issue.”

The source concluded by pointing out that this incident was the spark for many Christian families to leave the town out of fear, due to the lack of a force to protect them and ensure their safety. Out of about 325 Christian families, about 80 families left. The incident also led to the seizure of four Christian homes belonging to relatives of Zakham.

Regarding the details of the December 26 incident, an informed source from the Christian residents of Maaloula told ACI Mina: “Before Christmas, young men from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham insisted on Christians decorating their homes to avoid any problems, but things did not go normally.”

He continued: “At dawn on December 26, the surveillance cameras at Ghassan Zakhem’s farm indicated the presence of masked men who broke the lock on the farm’s door. Ghassan and his son Sarkis headed to the location immediately and asked the members of the security committees to accompany them, but they did not come despite their promise to come.”

The source confirmed that after the farm owners arrived at the location, an exchange of fire took place between the two parties, resulting in the death of the person who attacked the land (Abdul Salam). Ghassan turned himself in to Father Fadi Al-Barkil, who in turn handed him over to the competent authorities in Damascus to prevent any disastrous strife.

Dale Carnegie could write a new chapter in his classic, self-improvement book over this.

Anneke de Laaf

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I had wondered about that and am not surprised they refused to shake her hand, it is the hate-beard’s way. Then again, why you would want to visit the headchoppers let alone shake their hand, is beyond me.

BERLIN, January 3. /TASS/. Representatives of the new Syrian authorities refused to shake hands with German Foreign Minister Annalene Baerbock during her visit to Damascus. This was reported by the DPA agency. Baerbock visited Syria together with her French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot.

At the Damascus airport, representatives of the welcoming party did not shake the minister's hand - a woman. Later, the leader of the armed groups that came to power in Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharaa, did exactly the same.

"As soon as I arrived, it was clear to me that there would obviously be no ordinary handshakes," Baerbock told reporters. She claimed that during the visit she made it clear to her hosts that the guests frowned upon the practice and that respect for women's rights was a measure of how free a society was.

Former head of the Berlin Foundation for Science and Politics Volker Perthes called the refusal to shake hands with a female minister a bad sign. "This is not a tradition in Syria," he told the Stern magazine. "This is not good, even if we know about it from other countries where men who represent extremely conservative Islam are in power, such as in Iran or until recently in Saudi Arabia," the political scientist believes.

Baerbock and Barrot became the first European foreign ministers to visit Syria since Bashar al-Assad stepped down as president.

All reactions:

11

Türkiye will intervene at ‘slightest risk’

of Syria splintering – Erdogan

Ankara has the means and the will to prevent Syria from being divided, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said

© Yavuz Ozden / dia images via Getty Images

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his country will intervene if necessary to avoid any division of Syria and will be “uncompromising” in its determination. 

The comments from Erdogan are seen as a veiled warning to the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as well as to the US, which backs the group against Islamic State forces. 

“We cannot accept under any pretext that Syria be divided and if we notice the slightest risk we will take the necessary measures,” the Turkish leader said in remarks following the first cabinet meeting of 2025. 

He added that Ankara has “more than enough power, capacity, and talent to do this.”

Erdogan said Türkiye could “come suddenly one night” without warning to prevent a splintering of its neighbor. He insisted that there is “no place for terrorism in the future of the region” and that those who choose terror will be “buried with their weapons.”

Read more

 Erdogan threatens to ‘bury’ Kurds

Erdogan has repeatedly said that the Kurdish group poses a threat to Türkiye’s security and promised to prevent a “terror corridor” from opening up on its southern borders. Last month, he vowed to “bury” the Kurdish militants and called on NATO and the US to choose between supporting Türkiye or the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is operating near the Turkish and Iraqi borders, along with other Kurdish groups.

Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and regards both as terrorist organizations.

The SDF, dominated by the YPG, has called for a nationwide ceasefire in Syria following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in early December to Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists. It has also called on the US to help protect Syrian territory from Turkish attacks and for an end to what it regards as Ankara’s occupation of the country’s northern regions.

However, around 100 people died in clashes between YPG forces and pro-Türkiye factions over the weekend, according to AFP.

READ MORE: US sends largest convoy into Syria since fall of Assad – media

Türkiye, meanwhile, has attempted to foster ties with the new Syrian leadership, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visiting Damascus last month and calling for the lifting of economically-crippling international sanctions on the country.